The EU must represent a Community of values - ALDE group political priorities for next 5 years

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 13th Dec 2004

Outlining his group's political priorities for the next 5 years, Graham Watson, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the EP, called for the EU to "represent a Community of values with which the European citizen can associate; a political Europe combining economic dynamism and social justice."

He announced that the two underlying currents for the Barroso Commission should be:

1. reconnecting the ambitions of the Union with the hopes of citizens

2. placing a far greater emphasis on respect for Human Rights in everything the Union does, both within the territory of the Member States and in its dealings with third countries.

Lena Ek, speaking on behalf of the ALDE group in plenary pointed to the need to focus on implementing the Lisbon Agenda with concrete initiatives and political will in the Member States, including the proper enforcement of Single Market legislation necessary for Europe's competitiveness. She stressed that this agenda must equally be balanced by attention to social and economic cohesion in European society in order to avoid new tensions in the future.

Alexander Alvaro, ALDE coordinator on Parliament's Civil Liberties committee underlined the strategic importance of the growing Justice and Home Affairs agenda which will soon be co-decided by Parliament. He praised the renewed focus on the fight against terrorism but recalled the need to always ground it in the preservation of civil liberties, data protection and fundamental human rights.